Roundabouts in the US

[airbolt]

After watching an episode of Father Ted ( Speed 3 ) it occured to me that you dont see roundabouts in American Films. Am I imagining this ? Do they have roundabouts in the US?

[Ouisch]

Not very many.  And the places that do have them don't usually call them "roundabouts".  In Boston they're "traffic rotaries", and in Seattle they're "traffic circles."  But they're very few and far between. 

[Bangkok]

I (briefly) watched traffic on a roundabout in Provo, Utah and the drivers had no clue - if they could see a car coming, they didn't move.  Fortunately there is not a lot of traffic in Provo!

[LeMarchand]

Back when Michael J. Fox was in "Family Ties", he was doing an interview in this country and confessed that he'd never seen one before, dubbing them "circles of death".

[Forrest1977]

Me and my partner drove from Memphis in Tennessee to Orlando in florida via New Orleans and we only ever saw one!

[Mattk]

they are a frnech invention so i guess theyve stayed mainly european.you know the yanks - if its not theirs they dont want it !

[spainlads]

My partner did some driving at one stage in the Uk, but carrying airline staff. The Americans would be talking away in the back of the minibus and the second they got near a roundabout there was deadly silence. Once they'd past the roundabout they'd carry on talking as usually. NONE had ever seen one before.

[Dom Tuk]

Lived in USA for 3 years. Did not see any roundabouts but lots of junctions with no lights. The rule is simple. the first one at the junction has right of way. It works and many Americans driving in the Uk think the same rule applies and are waiting for the first one arriving at the roundabout to go. Me thinks thats what they do.